[02/28/12 - 11:32 AM]Turner Weekly Ratings - TNT Topped the Charts as Basic Cable's #1 Network in Primetime for the Final Week of FebruaryTNT spins the numbers for the week of February 20-26 and the month of February.

[via press release from Turner]

TNT

Propelled by its spectacular NBA All-Star Weekend coverage, TNT topped the charts as basic cable's #1 network in primetime for the final week of February among viewers and all key adult demos.

TNT's exclusive coverage of the 2012 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando on Sunday was basic cable's most-watched program for the week, with 7.1 million viewers. The game was also the most-viewed program on cable Sunday, marking the 10th consecutive time the network has accomplished this feat since it began broadcasting the game in 2003.

TNT's Friday night telecast of the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge was the most-watched telecast in the event's history, with more than 2.7 million viewers.

TNT's All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm delivered more than 6.2 million viewers, making it the third most-watched telecast in the 27-year history of TNT's All-Star coverage.

TNT's acclaimed cop drama Southland scored 2.3 million viewers in Live + 3 delivery last week (1.6 million in Live + Same Day), with 1.2 million adults 18-49 and 1.3 million adults 25-54. In its fourth season, Southland is up 5% among adults 18-49 and 3% among adults 25-54 compared to season three.

TBS

TBS made it two months in a row, ranking as basic cable's #1 network in primetime among adults 18-34 and adults 18-49 for February. Compared to February 2011, TBS is up a whopping 36% with viewers; 32% with adults 18-34; and 36% with adults 18-49. The network also saw increases across the board in total day.

February marked the fourth consecutive month of growth for CONAN, with the show averaging 1.1 million viewers (+3% vs. January); 423,000 adults 18-34 (+4%) and 720,000 adults 18-49 (+3%). Compared to October, when the growth streak began, CONAN's February deliveries are up 29% in viewers, 18% with adults 18-34 and 22% with adults 18-49. For the final week of February, CONAN averaged 1 million viewers; 410,000 adults 18-34; and 673,000 in Live + Same Day delivery.

The Big Bang Theory continues to dominate the sitcom arena, last week delivering basic cable's Top 15 sitcom telecasts for the week among adults 18-34 and adults 18-49. Six of the episodes clocked more than 3 million viewers.

Cartoon Network

Across February 2012, Cartoon Network stands as television's #1 network-broadcast and cable--for boys (2-11, 6-11, 9-14) in Early Evening Prime (7-9 p.m.). Versus February last year, prime delivery grew by strong double digits across the board: average kids 6-11 (738,000) grew by 29%, kids 2-11 (998,000) by 19% and kids 9-14 (587,000) by 31%. Average Total Day delivery also increased across all kid demos, between 7% - 19% in February.

Monday nights (7-9 p.m.) ranked #1 among kids 9-14 and all boy demos, posting impressive double-digit delivery growth across all kids and boys demos between 35% - 63% across February. Both Adventure Time (7:30 p.m.) and Regular Show (8 p.m.) ranked as the #1 show in their time periods among all kids (2-11, 6-11, 9-14) and boys (2-11, 6-11, 9-14), earning double and triple-digit delivery gains vs. 2011.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights (7-9 p.m.) also ranked #1 for boys 2-11, 6-11 & 9-14. Tuesday and Wednesday nights charted solid double-digit delivery gains across the board-between 20% - 99%-and each boasted multiple shows (The Amazing World of Gumball, Level Up, Adventure Time, Johnny Test) that ranked as the #1 telecast in their time periods among boys.

One stand-out series, Ninjago (Wednesdays, 8 p.m.) ranked as the #1 program on Wednesdays overall among kids 6-11, kids 2-11 and all boy demos on broadcast and cable television. It also stands as the #1 program throughout February among boys 6-11 & 2-11.

Across all of February 2012, Adult Swim again ranked #1 on basic cable for Total Day Delivery of young adults 18-34, 18-49 and 18-24, and young men 18-34, 18-49 and 18-24. Compared to February 2011, adults 18-34 (533,000) grew by 1%, 18-24 (323,000) by 14% and men 18-24 (197,000) by 3%.

Adult Swim programming in Feburary accounted for 14 of the top 50 telecasts for the week on basic cable among adults 18-34 and 12 of the top 50 among men 18-34, both more than any other network.

truTV

truTV's popular original series turned in strong performances in February. Five of the network's shows rank among cable's Top 50 non-fiction series, led by Hardcore Pawn (Tuesdays 9 p.m.) which averaged more than 2.8 million viewers this month. Hardcore Pawn also ranked as the #1 ad-supported cable program in its timeslot with men 18-49 and second with viewers, adults 18-49 and men 18-34.

Lizard Lick Towing (Mondays 10 p.m.) averaged 2.2 million viewers in February and scored Top 5 rankings across the board among ad-supported cable programs in its timeslot. It also garnered an audience median age of only 37, five years younger than the network's overall primetime median age.

Storage Hunters (Tuesdays 9:30 p.m.) continues to build in its first season, averaging 2.2 million viewers in February and ranking among the Top 5 programs in its timeslot with men 18-49.

Operation Repo (Wednesdays 9:30 p.m.) drew in 1.9 million viewers in February and ranked among the Top 5 ad-supported cable programs in its timeslot with young adults and men.

Impractical Jokers (Thursdays 10 p.m.) chalked up 1.7 million viewers in February and scored Top 5 timeslot rankings among key adult and male demos. The show's median age is a remarkable 34, eight years younger than truTV's primetime median age and seven years younger than the timeslot's median age last February.

truTV currently claims the youngest primetime median age (42) of any of its direct non-fiction competitors, including A&E (46), Discovery (45) and History (48).

Turner Sports

NBA on TNT

TNT's Friday night telecast of the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge was the most-watched telecast in the event's history, delivering a 1.7 US HH rating and more than 2.7 million viewers. TNT's All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm delivered the third most-watched telecast in the 27-year history of TNT's All-Star coverage with 6,237,000 total viewers. NBA All-Star Sunday Night on TNT delivered more than 7 million total viewers. Overall, Sunday's telecast delivered a 4.4 US HH rating.

Through 25 games of TNT's 2011-12 NBA regular-season schedule, the network continues to deliver double-digit gains vs. last year's corresponding coverage. The NBA on TNT is averaging a 1.8 U.S. HH rating (+20%, 1.5 U.S. rating); 2,780,000 total viewers (+23%, 2,260,000 total viewers) and 2,086,000 households (+23%, 1,699,000 households) over last year's corresponding coverage. Through the first half of the season, the Top 5 NBA regular-season games on cable have all aired on TNT.